1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the cutting of hardwood flooring, specifically a jig used in combination with a miter saw to cut precise lengths to fit between two headers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The laying of hardwood floors is a labor intensive manual process. In the past, borders and other interesting features were often included in a hardwood floor design. These designs often involved laying flooring between two fixed headers. Both ends of the flooring pieces are exposed and the pieces must be cut for a tight fit. Many newer hardwood floors have a fit between the headers and the flooring that is uneven and irregular because installers can no longer afford to take the time necessary to achieve a good fit. Flooring is now often laid from wall to wall, with baseboards eventually covering the unevenly cut ends of the flooring. Today's housing market, with its high demand for unique details and for hardwood floors creates a need for a less tedious method to precisely cut flooring to fit between two headers.
The usual process for fitting flooring between two headers begins with the headers fastened in place. The installer begins by butting one end of a piece of flooring against one of the headers and against the previously laid course. The piece is then nailed in place. The installer continues laying flooring in that course, butting each piece against the end of the previous piece, working toward the opposite header. The last piece of flooring in the course must then be accurately cut to length.
Cutting the last piece in a course requires many steps. The installer lays the piece of flooring in place, one end butted against the previous piece and the other end laying on top of the second header. Then, very carefully, the place where the piece should be cut is marked with a pencil. The board is then cut off, often using a miter saw, and tried in place to see how it fits. Due to lack of precision in this method, boards often are cut more than once, in a trial and error process to achieve a precise fit. If a board is cut too short, there is a gap between the board and the header. If a board is left too long and forced into place, it tends to force the headers apart and create a gap at the end of the boards previously laid.
Shortcomings of this process include the following. The flooring strip to be cut lays at an angle to horizontal, making a precise mark difficult. The pencil mark width may change over time as the pencil lead is worn down. The mark is visually aligned with the saw blade to make the cut. The piece is then tried in place and often must be recut. This trial and error method takes a lot of time, as pieces are visually aligned, cut, tried and recut. Small imprecisions result in an imperfect fit. This process is a very labor intensive and therefor costly.
There are a variety of saw guides available that facilitate accurate cutting of building material at a predetermined place. This jig is used to determine the place of the cut to allow for a precise fit, in addition to facilitating an accurate cut.